Philadelphia 76ers: Pressure is now on young Sixers to produce

The Philadelphia 76ers’ recent moves show a great deal of confidence in their young bench unit’s ability to make meaningful contributions right away.

The Philadelphia 76ers entered the offseason with two things in mind: star-hunting and star-developing. So far, the former has failed to produce any real notable results, as LeBron James is now in L.A., Paul George stayed put in OKC, and Kawhi Leonard was dealt to his own personal purgatory in Toronto.

So it’s been a disappointing offseason for those who had hoped for a superstar-type addition to the team, but there’s no need to worry. The focus has now shifted towards star-developing, and if the last few years have shown us anything, it might not be the worst strategy. But in this case, the star-developing is taking place on the bench.

The last few days have acted as a sort of changing of the guard for most of the second unit. On a smaller scale, aside from the familiar faces (T.J. McConnell‘s fourth-year option was exercised and Amir Johnson re-signed for another year), Wilson Chandler and Mike Muscala were acquired to provide the Sixers some more options at the three, four, and even five (mainly Muscala) off the bench.

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But the most telling changes have come in the last few days. On Thursday, as part of the Carmelo Anthony trade that landed the Sixers Mike Muscala, they sent Justin Anderson to Atlanta and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot to Oklahoma City. Then almost 24 hours later, they dealt Richaun Holmes to the Phoenix Suns for cash considerations in order to free up space for Jonah Bolden.

There are two major takeaways from these moves. For one, it shows that the Sixers are done being patient with the development of TLC, Anderson, and Holmes. All three have shown flashes of their potential, but they haven’t come along as quickly as one might’ve hoped due to a myriad of factors.

TLC and Anderson have both struggled to stay healthy and Holmes, despite his explosive athleticism above the rim on the offensive end, just hasn’t been able to back that up defensively. As a result, all three were relegated to being buried deeper in the depth chart over the course of the season, diminishing their roles and therefore making their departures a little more sensible.

But the biggest takeaway is the pressure that has now been placed on the shoulders of the likes of Markelle Fultz, Zhaire Smith, Furkan Korkmaz, Jonah Bolden, and Landry Shamet.

Brett Brown and his staff show a lot of faith in those guys’ ability to contribute right out of the gate by trading away Justin, TLC, and Richaun who, despite their shortcomings, have proven that they have the ability to at the very least hold their own when on the court. So you’re taking a risk replacing them with young guys who have little to no NBA experience.

Now that is not to say that they aren’t going to be able to step up and fill a need. They are all oozing with potential.

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Zhaire is a beast defensively, his shot has come along better than most thought, and has displayed a knack for cutting to the basket, but his handles need some fine-tuning. Furkan lit it up from deep in the Summer League, showcasing his ability to stretch the floor as well as his solid basketball I.Q., but there are questions about his physicality defensively. Bolden had an “eh” Summer League after showing promise last summer but could develop into both an inside and outside threat. Shamet could also turn into a solid play maker in his own right

And last, but certainly not least, all signs are pointing to Markelle finally showing us why he was so highly-touted just a year ago. Everyone who has seen him workout, which is a pretty select few (Brett Brown, Drew Hanlen, Dr. Lydeila Holmes (mother of Richaun Holmes)), has expressed a great deal of excitement about how good he could be this upcoming season.

Jump shot aside, he’s already shown that he has an elite skill set for a guard. If he works out the kinks in his shot, there’s a good chance that Markelle could find himself in the starting rotation at some point in the season.

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So it’s definitely going to be interesting to see how these guys respond to having more responsibility. They may not have the experience, but they have more than enough talent to make that an after-thought. There will for sure be growing pains, but I fully expect them to pick up the slack and provide an ample amount of support for the starters.